


Through this Old and Empty House

by ryanismyname



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gangsters, Gen, Ghost!AU, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, death descriptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 10:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2688692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryanismyname/pseuds/ryanismyname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Michael's parents have them move to a new home. Said home has been around for a long time and has quite a history to it.<br/>[Michael-centric haunted house AU] ((i suck at summaries gomen))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Come on Michael, wake up, we're here!"

The little boy rubs his eyes as he wakes from his short slumber against the window of their family car.

"Mmhm I'm awake, Mama"

"Come on, you want to see your new room right?"

Michael instantly perked up and regained his excitement for moving into a new house. The house was an old and Victorian and quite large. It reminded Michael of something he would see in an old movie. It was cool in its own way though. He couldn't wait to explore all of the rooms and even the secret ones he thought would be in the house. He quickly unbuckled his seat belt and bolted for the new old house.

"Hey, Michael can you be a big boy and grab a suitcase and bring it inside for me?" His father shouted to him.

Michael halted and turned back towards the car.

"Oh okay daddy!"

With the handle of his red wheeled suitcase in his left and his backpack slung over his right shoulder he headed for the house.

 

Inside the house it was kind of dark with there not all of the modern light fixtures having been installed yet and the dark wooden floor squeaked a bit in certain places as Michael walked through the house wheeling his suitcase behind him.

Near the entrance he saw his mom in the kitchen with a few boxes up on the counter.

"Hey, Mama, which room is mine?" He said excitedly.

"Oh yeah, its upstairs, I'll show you"

Michael had a bright smile plastered to his face as he trudged up the hard wooden staircase after his mother.

"Be careful not to trip on these steps. The wood is definitely more dangerous than the carpet we had at the old house."

"Okay, Mama!"

At the top of the stairs was a long hallway with three doors on each side and a panel in the ceiling that lead to the attic above.

Michael's mom opened the third door on the left. Inside was a rather large bedroom with a small mattress on the floor and a few boxes in a corner.

"This is your room. We'll get your bed set up after we finish getting all the stuff inside. Oh and the bathroom is just across the hall. Feel free to explore the house a bit; me and Daddy are going to be downstairs if you need us."

"Okay, Mama!"

His Mom smiled as she left Michael to his own room. It was bigger than his old room. It was very plain at the moment with white walls and an empty closet, but He figured that would change once they got settled in. Michael left his bags in the room and decided to go explore.

 

Just as his mom had said the room across the hall was a bathroom. The other rooms in the hallway were empty save for a few boxes scattered among them. He looked up at the square door in the ceiling. He would have loved to go look in the attic, but he knew it was dangerous up there and besides, he was too short. He wouldn’t be able to reach if he wanted to.

He went back over to his room to unpack some of his stuff.

 

He had been hanging up some clothes in his closet when he heard a thump behind him. He quickly turned around to find nothing had changed. He shrugged it off and went back to what he was doing. He vaguely wondered if there were any ghosts or spooky things in the old house. He dismissed that feeling. That’s stupid, ghosts and stuff like that aren’t real. He figured the sound must have come from the moving downstairs. Seems plausible enough.

 

That night he could have sworn he heard faint giggling as he drifted off to sleep in his new room.

 

\-----

 

Its been a few weeks since the Jones-es had moved into the house and Michael was playing on his N64 plugged into the small TV in his room. He loved playing his video games. It was his favorite pastime. His mom would sometimes bug him about going outside to play sometimes, but Michael hadn't really gained any friends in this area, especially since the new school year hadn't started yet. Michael wondered what the kids at his new school would be like. He was getting older and would be entering the third grade. Practically a grownup by his standards.

He sat there mashing buttons, getting annoyed when the character on screen didn’t do quite what he wanted it to, when he heard a voice from behind.

 

"What are you doing there?"

It was a arrogant high pitched British kid voice. Michael didn't know anyone with a high pitched British kid voice.

Michael nearly jumped out of his skin when he got up facing the voice, wielding the three pronged controller like a weapon. "What the heck?!"

Sitting with his feet dangling off Michael's bed was a little boy who looked to be a few years younger than Michael. His light brown hair stood up in every direction.

"What are you doing there? Don't think I ever saw anything quite like that!"

"Who are you and why are you in my room?" Michael was frankly shocked to see this random kid he didn't know just sitting there on his bed. And he was dressed weird too, like a parent had dressed him up for a fancy occasion.

"Oh I guess I didn't introduce myself. My names Gavin and I'm six and a half. What's your name?"

"I'm Michael. I'm, um eight"

"Toppers! You seem pretty fun. What is this thing anyhow?"

Gavin walked over the the TV and knocked on it with his little fist.

"It's my Nintendo 64. You haven't seen a video game before?"

"Whats a video game?"

"Oh dude you have to have been living under a rock or something, video games are literally the best."

 

Michael went on to demonstrate how to use the game and answered the many weird and/or unusual questions Gavin posed to him. Michael got so engrossed in showing off his console he never got around to asking Gavin more about who he was or why he was currently squished against him watching the small tv screen.

A little later Gavin spaced out for a few seconds staring at the bedroom door. Michael didn't notice because he was so engrossed in showing off how great he was at video games. Gavin seemingly snapped out of it and quickly got up and fumbled over his words when he told Michael he had to go and that he hoped to see him soon. Gavin had already bolted out the bedroom door before Michael could get a word in edgewise.

 

Michael sat in the floor, the game on pause. What was with that Gavin kid. So weird. Had Mom invited him over? Why was he in such a rush to leave? As if on cue he heard his mom shout from downstairs that she was home from grocery shopping. He went down to greet her.

 

"Mama!"

"Oh hey honey! Having fun with your little game thing?"

Michael hopped up on the kitchen counter. He was swinging his legs while watching his mom put away various foods in the cupboards and fridge.

"It was fun. I met a friend today. His name is Gavin"

"Oh that sounds fun. Was he in one of your games?"

"No, he was just in my room and he wanted to know about stuff so I showed him. He seems a bit weird but I can put up with him alright"

"Hm well at least you have a friend to play with now. And I'm sure you'll make more real friends once you start at school next week!"

"Gavin is real too!"

Michael's mom just hummed in mock agreement. Michael could tell she just assumed Gavin was an imaginary friend. He huffed, knowing that his mom wouldn't believe him if he pressed the issue further. He hopped down from the counter and grabbed an apple juice from where his mom had been unpacking them and walked back up the tall stairs to his room.

 

\------

 

A few weeks went by and Michael hadn't seen Gavin since that first time. At this point the short memory was a bit fuzzy and surreal seeming that Michael thought that he might have just made up Gavin as his mom things. Didn't really matter much to Michael. He had started up school and had been quick to start making friends.

 

He was working on some math homework when he saw Gavin again.

"What are you doing now?" An oddly familiar voice interrupted Michael's concentration.

"Oh, uh hey Gavin. I'm just working on homework."

"Oh. that's not much fun innit? Why don't we do something fun instead?"

"No, I have to do homework. Its due tomorrow. What are you doing here anyways, you didn't answer me last time."

Gavin paused, affected by the nearly harsh tone in Michael's voice.

"Well..." he started, "I'm just here. It's where I am"

"That's a stupid answer"

"Well maybe its a secret!"

"Well it would be a stupid secret. this is my room and I'm pretty sure you have to tell me why you're here"

"Umm.. how about we don't do that, and umm play pirates instead!"

"You are a total dork"

Gavin yanked his tie off of his neck and tied it around his head like an eye patch. He grabbed a foam sword Michael happened to have leaning against a bookcase and brandished it against Michael.

"Now we have to fight arrrrr!"

"I can beat you I'm older"

"Nu-uh I'm better though"

"We'll see about that!" Michael grabbed a ruler he had been using for his homework and attacked Gavin, using it like a sword.

After some scuffling Michael ended up tackling Gavin to the floor. His collar being yanked around during the fight, Michael spotted some weird marks on Gavin's neck.

"Hey, whats that on your neck?"

Gavin quickly snapped out of his pirate persona to button the top button on his shirt.

"It's ahh nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don't worry about it."

Gavin got to his feet. "I should probably be going anyways."

Gavin started towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

Gavin didn't answer and he was out the door once again. Michael rushed out the door after him, but there was no sign in the hallway that a little British boy had been there. The house was silent.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the school year passed and Michael only saw Gavin a few more times. Michael still couldn't get the small boy off his mind. And every time he saw him he was unable to get much in the way of answers from him. Gavin didn't seem quite right, but anytime Michael brought something up the subject was quickly changed or Gavin had to leave. He didn't want to tell his mom about the mysterious boy, he didn't want to seem like he was nuts.

The school days went by without a hitch. Michael wasn't the best in school, but he always did his best and managed to learn a lot and get moderately good grades. He did like school. Just not as much as video games. He would much rater find himself in a world of fantasy than the real world. That was probably a reason why Michael liked reading so much. When he wasn't playing video games you could a lot of times find him with his head in a book. He loved meeting people so different from himself, even if they weren't real.

 

\-------

 

One night Michael woke up from having a nightmare. There wasn't really much in it that Michael could make sense of, but it still left the boy chilled to his bone. All he could remember from it was loud explosions and a feeling of terror and panic. He got up out of his bed slowly, still breathing heavily from the scary dream. He grabbed a stuffed bear from a shelf and holds it close as he trudges out of his room. It was very dark in the house save for a nightlight in the hallway put there by Michael's mother. Michael was going to go down to the kitchen to get a glass of water and maybe lay down on the couch in the living room or something. He noticed that one of the doors in his hallway was cracked and a faint light came from the space under the door. His curiosity got the best of the boy and he carefully pushed open the door.

 

What he saw there he was not expecting. Through the doorway Michael could see the silhouette of a man sitting hunched over on the guest bed. Michael timidly called out "D-d-daddy?"

The man on the bed looked up slowly but said nothing. He sluggishly got up and walked towards Michael. When he got up closer Michael could see the man's features a little better and his mustache and could smell a faint whiff of something alcoholic. "Go back to bed, kid. " He said quietly, almost whispering. He closed the guest room door leaving Michael on the outside. Michael swallowed. He nervously turned around and went back to his bedroom his breath heavy. His head was still slightly foggy from sleep and he couldn't really process what he'd just experienced. In the morning it just mushed together with his dreams.

 

\-------

 

Michael didn't see or even think of the shadowed man for a long time. Weeks went by and Michael just lived his life as he normally would: playing video games, going to school, having friends over to hang out.

 

One day Michael had just gotten home from school and he was trudging up the stair with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He was mad. Some older kid at school had been harassing him and his friends. Michael really didn't like that. There was no physical fight involved, but it wasn't from a lack of wanting to on Michael's part, but his friends held him back so he wouldn't get in trouble.

 

He burst into his room with some angry over-zealous grunts. He knew he wasn't in any state of mind to start on homework so he started up his tv and his PS2. He decided to take out some of his anger shooting virtual people in a video game. He spent a while sitting there in his bedroom hurling insults at the pixelated soldiers on screen, shooting as many as he could. Eventually he mostly calmed down. At the end of the level he exited out of his game and got up to go downstairs for a snack. It had become a bit late and the house was shrouded in shadow. As Michael walked down his hallway he felt a cold prickle on the back of his neck. He turned around but there was nothing there. He shrugged it off. but he still had that creeping sensation of being watched. He ignored this and went downstairs to the kitchen.

 

When he came up the stairs, bag of chips in hand, he was surprised to see the lights behind three of the doors on. Usually its only two: his bedroom and the bathroom. Why was the guest room light on? Michael let the curiosity get the best of him and slowly pushed the guest room door open, feeling a strange sense of deja vu. Inside was a man sitting on the bed with a gun in his hands. He didn't seem to notice Michael.

 

Michael stayed where he was in the doorway just looking at the strange yet familiar man. He had dark hair and a handlebar mustache. He was wearing a worn brown bomber jacket. Michael could see a dark hole looking thing on the side of the man's head. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it didn't look good.

"H-hey, who are you?" Michael hesitantly called out.

The man looked up sharply to where Michael was standing.

"Hey, kid. I'm Geoff. Geoff Ramsey. Run along now. You needn’t worry yourself over an old guy like me."

"Why are you here. This is my house." Michael hoped he would get more of an answer out of Geoff than he did out of Gavin.

"Let's just say that I have to stay here. I don't even know how you can even see me right now, but you seem like you're still young enough that you don't need to worry about this stuff yet." Geoff got up off the bed, leaving the gun sitting there. He went over to Michael. "Don't go poking around in this shit okay? At least not for a while. This house has a lot of history you could say. You don't need to be poking around in what could be dangerous. Now go, and don't look for me again. Or Gavin for that matter, I know you've met him. Now skedaddle." Geoff shut the door in Michael's face before he could speak up.

 

Michael wasn't sure what that was about but it definitely wasn't normal. The whole situation was very unusual. Kind of.. supernatural, even. Were they... dead? Like ghosts or something? Michael had seen enough horror movies to know that he probably shouldn't be messing around with shit like that. But still he was curious. If Geoff and Gavin were ghosts, then why were they dead, and why were they stuck in this house? Michael decided not to let this go and do a bit of research.

 

\-----

 

After school the next day Michael found himself in his dad's empty office using his computer. His dad was working late tonight so he wouldn't be home for a while so Michael could search to his heart's content. He searched many websites about ghosts and haunted houses etc. The information seemed to vary depending on the source, but it seemed that gist was very similar to what is portrayed in a lot of movies. Ghosts are spirits left in a place because they died before it was meant, so now they are doomed to live where they died forever. There was a bit of information on getting ghosts out of houses, but this information was very iffy in Michael's opinion. Michael absentmindedly ruffled his curly auburn hair. He leaned back in the comfy black spinny office chair. So Gavin and Geoff died here? That must suck. Michael wondered if they knew anything about the modern world. Gavin seemed to have no clue, but he was a kid so what did he know. Geoff seemed a bit more in the moment and knowledgeable, but that may just be because he was older. Probably even older than Michael's parents if he had to guess.

 

Michael remembered Geoff mentioning something about there being dangerous history in the house. Could that mean that Gavin and Geoff weren't the only spirits stuck here? If so, who were the others? Would they be actually dangerous, like what you see in the movies? Michael supposed that if he heeded Geoff's advice and didn't go poking around he wouldn't awaken them. That would probably be the best for now. He may be a kid still for all intents and purposes, but he wasn't an idiot.

 

Michael shut off the PC and went back up to his room to work on homework or what have you until bed.

His sleep was filled with pale haunting figures and several instances of waking in the night, but he didn't dare get up to explore.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Quite a while passed. Michael had taken Geoff's advice to heart and tried his best to forget he even knew there were ghosts in his house. He went out of his way to ignore any odd bump in the night or unexplained event. A few years went by like this. Michael finished elementary school and entered middle school without a hitch. After a while Michael had nearly convinced himself that ghosts don't exist and that Gavin and Geoff were just figments of his kid brain. Inside he knew it wasn't true.

His doubts were confirmed when one day he got home and he wasn't home alone. He opened his bedroom door to find a Hispanic teen playing his xbox.  
  
"What the fuck" Michael said quietly, not quite believing what he was seeing.  
  
The teen obviously wasn't a normal kid. His lean body was littered with dark bruises and square in the middle of his retro tee was a dark hole. Looked like a stab wound to Michael's eyes.  
  
"Oh hey, sorry I didn't know you'd be home so soon. uh just let me finish this game of halo and I'll leave."  
  
"Uhh okay then.."  
  
Michael hesitantly entered his bedroom. The boy didn't seem dangerous, just seemed like a nerd to Michael. He didn't want to take any chances though. What if he was the thing Geoff had warned him of.

"Dude chill out. I can feel your fear from here, I'm not going to hurt you. You met Geoff right? Yeah he's a bit nuts, I swear he must have lost all his common sense in the war, whatever he said was probably bullshit. There's nothing in this house to be scared of.. well besides.. never mind."  
  
"Never mind what? Is there some fucking demon or some shit lurking is the basement or something I should know about??!"   
  
Michael seemed to trust the teen more, but he was freaked out about the fact that there might actually be some evil shit in his house.  
  
"It's- its nothing, forget I said anything. The last appearance was before I got here so I'm probably talking out of my ass, but from the way Geoff talks about it... eurgh." He finished with a shiver.  
  
"Okay then... I'll take your word for it." Michael sat down on his bed and went through the homework he had in his book bag.  
  
"My name's Ray by the way. I don't think I ever introduced myself."  
  
"'M Michael."  
  
"..."  
  
They sat in silence for a bit, Michael watching as Ray took out the attackers on screen with a practiced ease. He was damn good at the game. Maybe even better than Michael himself.  
  
"How are you so good at halo anyways?"  
  
"Oh.. uh sorry. I come in here sometimes when you're away. I just saw it one day and I had to try it. A lot more high-tech than what I used to play, but I learned how to play. You should have seen me back in my heyday, I had the highest score on just about every game in the arcade. I was the best."  
  
"Oh yeah I think I know what arcade you're talking about, the one down on 57th right? Yeah, it closed down a few years back. "  
"Man that sucks."  
  
Ray continued playing while Michael watched on in silence.  
  
"So.. um can I ask you a few questions, if you don't mind?"  
  
"Sure, whatever. Shoot"  
  
"How.. how did you.. um.. die?"

Michael tiptoed around the subject, afraid of the reaction if it turned out to be a touchy subject.  
  
"Well.. It was a while back.. like '86 if I remember correctly? Well.. uh.. I'm.. I'm gay and a lot of people weren't okay with that."  
  
"That’s total bullshit."  
  
"Let me finish. Well at school there was this group of dudes who liked to pick on me. Mostly verbally, but sometimes I'd end up beat up in a trashcan but thats just how it goes. They bullied me for being a complete nerd. Always in the computer lab and the arcade. At one point in the year I um.. I told my best friend I was gay. I thought he'd be okay with it. I was probably just blinded by my huge crush on him. He stopped talking to me. And he told everyone at school. Everyone, including those assholes who beat me up all the time. “  
  
“If anything the beatings increased along with hurling of mean words in the hallways. It sucked. And then.. one day I was sitting at home playing my NES when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was a delivery guy or something. When I opened the door it was obvious I was wrong. There he was. My ex best friend/ crush. He and the dudes that harassed me all the time were there. And they weren't empty handed. They had knives and bats and really whatever they could get their hands on.... and then... well... they straight-up murdered my ass. Fucking sucks dick."  
  
Ray scowled as he finished his story. He took a few breaths.

Michael sat there on his bed. He wasn't really sure what to say. Or if he was even supposed to say anything. What do you tell a dude who just poured out how he was murdered? There's not really any social protocol for that.  
  
"Well at least know its not that big of a deal now a days. There's a lot more openly gay people, and hate crimes like that are illegal and shit."  
  
"That's nice to know I suppose. Doesn't really make any difference to me though."  
  
"I suppose not."  
  
More silence filled the room as Ray continued his playing.

"I should probably get going. We're not really meant to expose ourselves to the living that much. So uh.. see you around I suppose?"  
  
"Sure. Feel free to come around to play video games anytime if you want. You don't seem like that bad of a dude." Michael smiled shyly at the dead Hispanic.  
  
"Uh yeah maybe.. See you around." Ray shot a smile at Michael as he left the bedroom.  
  
Michael supposed it wasn't that bad to be stuck in a haunted house if one of the ghosts was a guy like Ray. Maybe they could play together sometime.

\------

Michael didn't see Ray again for a while, but he did notice that in some of his games that supported multiple saves, there was a new save labeled 'XRY'. Also that he kept beating his high scores. That jackass.

Michael slept soundly now. He knew that there wasn't anything malicious in his house. Just a few friendly ghosts. Or in Geoff's case, maybe not quite as friendly, but still not dangerous despite the gun the man kept with him. Michael wondered how many more spirits lived with him without him knowing. Some nights he would find himself looking around dark corners just wondering if he would discover a new friend.

\------

One day Michael found himself getting into a fight at school. His mom was called from work to pick him up. He tried to argue his case of why he'd gotten into the fight, but none of the teachers would let it go by. He was sent home early with a three day suspension. He'd just been standing up for his friend. Kerry was a good friend and didn't deserve all the bullying he got and Michael was sick of it. His mom dropped him off at the house with a few stern word, but she had to go back to work.  
  
Michael angrily stomped up the stairs and was barely looking when he went into his room and flopped onto his bed and let out a long agitated sigh.

"Fuckin' bullshit" he said, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was currently being engulfed by.  
  
"I hear you. Stick it to the man."  
  
Upon hearing the familiar voice Michael sat up and looked towards the ghost playing his video games.  
  
"Can you just go, I want to be alone okay?!" Michael said. It was obvious he was still pissed about his suspension.  
  
"Nah, I don't want to. You're the one home early. I'm supposed to have a good couple hours left of game time."  
  
"Fine. I suppose that's reasonable." Michael resigned.  
"School is total bullshit."  
  
"I hear you. Kind of glad I got out of that shit early. Except for the being dead part. That still sucks. Word of advice? Don't get murdered. Would not recommend. And judging by that shiner its a word of advice you probably need. What happened anyways?"  
  
"It was dumb. These kids at school were making fun of my friend and I was sick of it. To be honest I did kind of pick the fight, but it was for a just cause."  
  
"Hmm. Well I give you kudos for the effort, but fighting bullies isn't worth it. I would know. I probably would have half the bruises I do if I hadn't put up a fight."  
  
Michael hummed in agreement. Maybe it hadn't been right to fight after all.  
As they sat there, Michael watching Ray play, Michael brought up a question.  
  
"Could you tell me more about the others?"  
  
"Sure. I mean I don't know everything, but I don't see how telling you what I know could hurt."  
  
"What's Geoff's deal?"  
  
"PTSD. Went wacko after coming home from the war. He fought in WWII and survived, only to put a bullet in his head not long after being home. I guess the sights he saw got to him. He doesn't really talk a lot about it. And he's especially guarded about the subject of his family before he died, but by the way he treats Gavin I'm pretty sure he was a father. I'm glad Gavin has him to act as a father figure. I know I'd get sick of dealing with that kid all the time."

"And what about Gavin. He's so young to have died.."  
  
"Yeah.. its a shame really. He never talks about it, but I've put some strings together and I can give you my theory. The bruises on his neck are obviously from being choked to death. Its a shame a kid so young got killed that way. And by the way he flinches anytime anyone mentions fathers or dads, I think it was his father who did it. Horrible. I mean being around the kid I can understand why you'd want to strangle him, but I mean you don’t actually do it!"  
  
"Wow.. yeah that's really shitty."  
  
"yeah.."

They sat in silence for a little while more until Michael spoke up again.  
  
"Are there anymore?"  
  
"Anymore what?"  
  
"Anymore.. ya'know.. ghosts or whatever?"  
  
"Hey I prefer the tern reality-challenged," Ray snarked.  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean I haven't met them though. They tend to hide away more than the three of us that you've met. Which is probably a good thing given what I've heard- and no I will not tell you what I've heard. Its safer that way."  
  
The tone of Ray's voice told him that he really shouldn't push it.


	4. Chapter 4

A few more years passed without incident from that point. Michael would occasionally run into the spirits in his home, but nothing bad ever came up. Sometimes he'd humor Gavin's odd childish antics, sometimes he'd play games with Ray, sometimes he'd spy Geoff wandering the halls in the night mumbling about the war. Nothing out of the ordinary. As ordinary as you can get with dead people residing in your home. Michael supposed it would be similar to if he had siblings or room mates. Just a little... different.

Michael was a sophomore in high school when he met a the fourth spirit inhabiting his home.  
  
He had just gotten home from school and was slightly pissed off, but that's pretty normal for a kid his age. Just teenage angst and all that. He thought about calling out to Ray to see if he wanted to play some games, but quickly decided against it when he heard two voices loudly arguing inside one of the rooms in the hallway upstairs. One of the voices Michael recognized even though he had never heard it this loud or clear before. It was Geoff. The other voice wasn't familiar at all. Michael thought the voice seemed like it had come out of a bad movie or something. The outdated style of speaking and slang seemed more appropriate in a gangster film than in his home.  
  
It was hard to tell what the two were arguing about. They were very vague in their speech, almost as if they knew Michael was listening and not wanting him to know. Michael wondered if their argument was about something he should be concerned about.  
  
"You going soft on me, Ramsey? I know you'se all dried up and fried, but when a friend like me asks you to do somethin' I expect it done!"  
  
"I'm not just your average John Doe you can push around, Pattillo, I'm not getting involved. Whatever you men want to do, go do it, but don't involve me. What could you do anyways? We're already dead. There's no bite left behind your bark!"  
  
"All right, all right, you grummy bastard, but you keep an eye out. Keep in mind we still in the air. We gonna bust this joint!"  
  
"Whatever, man. It's not like its going to work anyways."  
  
"You don't know bull. He's the best fella I ever did meet and I'm stayin' true"  
  
Michael heard a door slam and then it was silent. Michael didn't know who this 'Pattillo' was, but he didn't think it could mean anything good. Also by the way he talked it didn't seem like he was acting alone. Maybe this was the danger Geoff and Ray have hinted at in the past. Michael decided to ask Ray about it next time he saw him. Not today though.

\----

That night Michael heard more bumps in the night than usual. That night he hardly slept. Before he left for school that morning he left a note on the TV for Ray to stay and that Michael had to talk to him about somthing important. At school Michael was distracted, thoughts about the mysterious 'Pattillo' character running through his head. What could a dead guy from the 20's even want?

When he go home Ray was waiting sitting on Michael's bed playing pokemon.  
  
"Hey dude."  
  
"Oh hey Michael. What was it that was so important to leave me a note for?"  
  
"Geez let a guy get through the door before asking the big questions. How's about a 'how was your day?' or whatever the fuck,"  
  
"Take a chill pill. You seem even more pissed than usual. What the fuck is going on?"  
  
"Okay so yesterday I got home just to hear fucking Geoff arguing with some other guy called 'Pattillo' or some shit-"  
  
Ray's already pale face got even paler at the mention of the name  
  
"Wait you heard Jack? Jack Pattillo?"  
  
"Uh I guess I don't fucking know, all I know is what I overheard."  
  
"This isn't good. Jack is another one of us. He and... well they don't show their faces very often. And for good reason. Geoff has forbid me or Gavin to seek them out. He's kinda like our dad in that way. He's told me a bit about them though. They were mobsters back in the 20's. Dangerous. The fact that Jack and Geoff were arguing is a bad sign. A very bad sign..."  
  
"What do you think they're planning?"  
  
"I don't know.. I don't know much about them. I don't even know the other guy's name. Geoff refuses to tell me."  
  
"So he's like Voldemort or some shit? Damn that doesn't sound good at all.."  
  
"What the fuck is a Voldemort?"

\-----

Provided it wasn't already too late, Michael decided he was going to ask Geoff about the ghostly gangsters. Luckily the light in the guest room was on when Michael went out into the hall. He peeked open the door to see Geoff sitting at the foot of the bed, just as he was the first time Michael saw him when he was young. In the light Michael could see him better. He looked old. He could clearly see the nasty bullet wound in the side of Geoff's head. It really sucks that you have to keep your death wounds as a ghost when you die. Geoff seemed to notice that Michael had opened the door and looked over at him.  
  
"Hey, Geoff."  
  
"..." Geoff just stared for a moment.  
  
"Hey, kid. You heard the other day, yeah? You should probably clear out. Shit might go down. You seem like a good kid. Wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire."  
  
"Who are they? I want to stop them."  
  
"You seriously think you can stop them? You'd have to be daft to want to fuck with Haywood. He's fucking wack."  
  
"Please. Just tell me what you know. Leave the rest to me."  
  
"Alright. So. Haywood and Patillo are two blokes you don't want to mess with. They were bootlegging gangsters back in the 20's. They were on the run from the police and hid out here. Haywood spiked their drinks with poison and they've been here ever since. They weren't that bad back when I was first here back in the 40's."   
"Haywood went mental though. Too long being cooped up in a cage I suppose. Sometimes he seemed to be deluded into thinking that he was a king, like way back in medieval times. And Pattillo just goes along with whatever Haywood wants. If Haywood wants something done, then Pattillo will bend over backwards to make it happen."  
  
Geoff sighed and rubbed at the perpetual bags under his pale eyes.  
  
"Heh. Jack wouldn't be such a bag guy if he wasn't such a pussy. According to what he was saying the other day, the plan is to possess your parents. From there I'm not sure what they're gonna do, but it probably wont be good. The Mad King up there can cook up some crazy shit if I remember correctly."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Well. Good luck, kid. I hope you live, but I honestly wouldn't mind keeping you around should you die. Maybe you can go be a fag with Ray or something, you guys are around the same age."  
  
Geoff let out a half-laugh.  
  
"Now get along, I've imparted my wisdom, Leave an old man to his memories."  
  
Michael nodded. He was now a man on a mission. He departed from the guest room with a salute to Geoff.

\-----

Michael stood in the hallway staring at the panel in the ceiling that led to the attic. He knew they were up there. They had to be. He swallowed, his throat feeling like sawdust. He had to protect his parents. And potentially himself. Who knows what these assholes have planned. He glances towards his room but Ray is nowhere to be seen. So much for backup. He tugs down on the cord hanging from the ceiling and the ladders falls down bringing clouds of dust with it. Michael coughs and swats away at the cobwebs and particles that come down with the ladder. He squints through the clouds of dust at the black hole in the ceiling. He doesn't see anything, but it seems as though there is some kind of light up there already on. Michael coughs some more at the dust and mumbles to himself.  
  
"Time to pull up your big boy underwear and face some ghosts I guess."

He pulls the ladder all the way down and makes sure its stable before climbing up in into the mostly dark attic space.

Michael looks around the dim space. There's nothing up there but some old boxes of stuff. There's an old camping lantern sitting lit on top of one of the boxes towards the middle of the attic. Either side of the attic are shrouded in complete darkness. Michael would be lying if he were to say that it wasn't totally spooky up there. Especially knowing that there were two potentially murderous ghosts there. Damn this really is some horror movie shit.

"Well well well, what do we got ourselves here?"

A deep voice came from the darkness to Michael's left. It sounded similar to how Pattillo had sounded, but somehow Michael didn't think it was him. This sounded much more... sinister.

"You come to pay your respects to the Mad King before you'se demise eh?"

That voice came from the right of Michael. That must have been Pattillo.

"You'se should dry up and scram, ya hear? Just put your little cap to your pillow and the deed'll be done before the cock crows." The deeper voice said.

"I'm not leaving. I'm here-" Michael swallowed nervously, "I'm here to stop you."

"Oh look, little tiddlywinks thinks he's a busta? Well I gots a headline for you kid. I'm here. And I'm here to do some damage. I been up here in this GOD DAMN BUNKER FOR NEARLY A CENTURY! Now you'se think you can stop me from gettin' out and makin some mayhem? I been locked up too long... 's a load a bunk I tell ya.... Been itchin' ta get outa here ya know. Maybe cruise down 5th and feel the wind through my hair again... Maybe show them coppers whats what. Haywood's back. Nah...Nah...."  
  
The man began to laugh. A sinister laugh. The laugh of a madman. Michael saw something stir out of the darkness to his left.

A pale man walked out of the darkness. A man maybe late 20's early 30's with a rough unshaven chin. His light brown hair combed back, and on top of his head sat a crown of tin foil.

"Nah. Haywood may as well be history. May as well call me you'se King. King Ryan."

Next thing Michael knows, he's faced with two large men in front of him. The're older than him and stronger judging by their size. The ginger one with the beard, Pattillo, Michael supposes, looks like he could take out a bull.  
Michael is scared. He runs.

He scrambles down the ladder, he runs through the hall and down the stairs. He runs to his parent's bedroom on the ground floor.  
  
"Mom! Dad! We're in danger! We need to go!" Michael shouts. He shakes at his parents to wake them.

His dad mumbles something dismissive about a nightmare or something and rolls over. His mother seems almost like she's in a coma.  
Michael continues to shake them and yell. Its no use. They will not wake.

"So. You've seen my work. Us dead folks got some moves too, ya know?" Michael stiffens at Ryan's voice behind him.

"You can't do this. You can't" Michael is terrified.  
  
"You can't do this! These are my parents! They're good people. They don't deserve to die. And they don't deserve to be taken advantage of and be used as vessels by assholes like you." Michael's face was red. Red like his anger. His eyes were red from the tears he's on the edge of spilling.  
  
"Get back! No one even cares about you anymore! You've been dead so long, there's no one left for you to get revenge on! Don't you realize? It's fucking 2014. No one remembers some washed up gangsters from the 20's."

Ryan seemed to hesitate.  
Jack stood behind him giving him a look.

"Hey, boss. I uh... I reckon this sprout's got a good noggin. We been outta touch. Our time for revenge is gone with the wind."

Jack stared at Ryan.  
Ryan gulped.  
  
"I... I eh.... I suppose I been a bit off my rocker. Maybe... maybe this ain't the right course of action. There's 'nuttin left for us here, Jack. Fuckin 'Nuttin."

"Are you going to let me parents go?"

Ryan hesitated before answering.

"Sure, kid. Let's us clear out and I'll lift the sandman's curse on your parents."

They all three left the bedroom and walked towards the staircase. Michael was still wary of the two men, but he hoped that they were being honest. He wasn't sure what he would do should they prove to be lying. Something inside of Michael told him they weren't though.

The three ended up in the hallway in front of the pulled down ladder.

"Let me level with ya, kid," Ryan started, "I, uh. I suppose we should start over. We don't need to be like we was. Bein' left alone in a dark room for years and years can really cloud you senses. I'm Ryan and that there's Jack. I'm hopin' we can be straight with each other from now on. All of us. We'll even be civil with the wet blanket over there in the other room. We good?"

Ryan offered his hand to shake. Michael was still apprehensive, but he shook anyways. And he shook with Jack as well.

"As long as you guys don't fuck with me, I won't fuck with you. And if you ever want to know about the modern world, I could maybe show you some things later..?"

"Sure, kiddo. That might be some fun. See you round, buster brown."

The two gangsters ascended the stairs. Whew. Glad that's over.  
Michael left for his own room. The clock on his bedside tables glowed 12:30 at him. He flopped onto his bed to get some sleep, not even bothering to put on his pajamas. Boy will he have a story for Ray next time he sees him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I finished this up after having it almost done for a few months now.  
> A fun little story I suppose.  
> I might write an epilogue to add, but im not sure.  
> Hope you enjoyed!


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